It is, of course, generally known to package products for shipment thereof. Indeed, many products, especially electronic products, are manufactured far from where they are typically ultimately purchased and used by consumers. In the United States, it is common for many electronic products to be manufactured in Japan or China and then shipped thousands of miles to the United States for purchasing and use by consumers.
For example, computers utilize hard drives for storage of information thereon. Most, if not all, computers require a hard drive storage medium as an integral component of the computer. In many cases, however, hard drives are components that are relatively standardized, in that they can be added to computers or swapped between computers because most computers have standardized connections to accept the hard drives therein. Therefore, hard drives are typically manufactured and shipped separately from other components and the computers themselves. Of course, many other electronic components have similar properties, in that they may be manufactured and shipped separately from other components.
Generally, hard drives, and other similar electronic components, may be manufactured in various sizes. For example, the vast majority of hard drives utilized in computers are of two varieties, based on size: 2.5 inch hard drives and 3.5 inch hard drives. It is very typical for a manufacturing facility to manufacture both 2.5 inch hard drives and 3.5 inch hard drives.
After a hard drive is manufactured, whether a 2.5 inch hard drive or a 3.5 inch hard drive, they may be shipped from the manufacturing facility to another facility for incorporating into a computer or for selling singly to consumers. To ship these components, special packaging has developed to substantially reduce the stress that may be placed upon the components during shipment thereof. For example, during shipment, a box containing a component may be subjected to blows, vibrations, compression stresses, and other like stressors.
Electronic components tend to be fragile, in that physical stresses may cause the electronic components to be non-functional upon arrival after a shipment. Specifically, typical hard drives contain many moving parts, such as a rotating disc containing electronically stored information thereon. Of course, a manufacturer desires to ensure that relatively fragile electronic components safely arrive at their destinations with minimal damage.
To protect relatively fragile electronic components from the rigors of shipping and/or storing, packaging has been developed that create a suspension system for the electronic components within a box for shipment. Typically, an electronic component may be sandwiched between one or more pieces of suspension material, such as, typically, plastic, that may be formed to accept one or more portions of the electronic component. The one or more pieces of the suspension material typically fit snugly within an appropriately sized box made of, typically, cardboard material. The one or more pieces of cardboard material generally allow the electronic component or components to be suspended within the box, whereby the box and the one or more pieces of suspension material absorb much of the shock exerted onto the box during the shipping and/or storing process.
For example, a relatively fragile electronic component, such as a hard drive, may be suspended between two similar or identical pieces of suspension material, typically made of thin plastic or foamed plastic material, such as Styrofoam®. The pieces of suspension material act as stabilizers for the relatively fragile electronic component, and for box contacting surfaces allowing the pieces of suspension material, having the electronic component disposed therebetween, to fit snugly within the box. Therefore, neither the pieces of suspension material, nor the electronic component disposed therebetween, move independently of the box within which they reside for shipping or storing.
However, it is common that different sized or shaped electronic components require the use of different pieces of suspension material in order to allow the electronic components to fit therein. Thus, a manufacturer must typically have many different types and sizes of suspension material to ship the different types and sizes of electronic components. For example, a manufacturer typically requires to have, on hand, a first type or size of suspension material for fitting 2.5 inch hard drives, and a second type or size of suspension material for fitting 3.5 inch hard drives. Generally, the first type or size of suspension material for the 2.5 inch hard drives do not fit the 3.5 inch hard drives, and the second type or size of suspension material for the 3.5 inch hard drives do not fit the 2.5 inch hard drives. Thus, separate supplies of suspension material must be provided to shippers of the different sizes of hard drives based on their needs.
A need, therefore, exists for apparatus, systems and methods for packaging electronic products. Specifically, a need exists for apparatus, systems and methods for packaging electronic products that allow the electronic components to be packaged using suspension material that may be utilized for two or more electronic components having different shapes and/or sizes.
Moreover, a need exists for apparatus, systems and methods for packaging electronic products that may sufficiently absorb shocks and other stresses that would otherwise be imparted to the electronic products. A need further exists for apparatus, systems and methods for packaging electronic products that may be sufficiently sized to be snugly fit within a box for shipping.
Further, a need exists for apparatus, systems and methods for packaging electronic products that may be easily and cost-effectively constructed from recycled and/or recyclable materials. Still further, a need exists for apparatus, systems and methods for packaging electronic products that may sufficiently enclose and protect two or more different sized and/or shaped products for shipment and/or storing thereof.
Moreover, a need exists for apparatus, systems and methods for packaging electronic products that make more efficient the supply chain demands and reduces overhead by reducing the separate packaging necessary for two different items by consolidating the packaging needs into a single packaging solution.